A 13-year-old boy launched a stabbing attack at Kingsbury High School in Brent, north-west London, on Tuesday, leaving two pupils in a life-threatening condition in hospital as police investigated it as a suspected ideologically motivated incident.Witnesses said the teenager pulled out a knife in the middle of a classroom just before lunch and stabbed a 13-year-old boy in the neck and back while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” Seconds later, a second boy aged 12 was stabbed in front of screaming children, Daily Mail reported.Armed police raced to the school, but the attacker fled. A suspect, who has not been named, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after being found hiding nearby around an hour later. Police said they also recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the stabbing.Sources said the suspect was not a pupil at Kingsbury High, raising questions about how he managed to get into the school building with a concealed weapon.Scotland Yard said counter-terrorism police were leading the investigation amid suspicions it was an ideologically motivated attack. Police have yet to formally declare that the stabbings were a terrorist attack as officers were still carrying out searches related to the suspect on Tuesday night. Many pupils who witnessed the attack were held in the school hall for several hours while police carried out inquiries.The father of one pupil said: ‘He [the attacker] came into the school and my son saw him stab a child in the neck.”Two boys were on the floor and the other children thought they were just playing. But then they didn’t get up. It’s awful.”A woman said her sister was in the classroom next door when the attack started.She said: “They heard screaming and crying. Our parents are travelling and they saw it on the news and were so worried. My brother was really scared to go back to school. How can you after a stabbing?”A father of another pupil added: “My child is traumatised.”Maeve O’Callaghan-Harrington, who lives locally, said she heard children sobbing as they left school with their parents.She said: ‘I walked outside and heard one boy saying, ‘Mummy, Mummy, it was in his neck’.”Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said police were ‘keeping an open mind as to any motivation behind the attack’.He added: “The suspect, who we believe to be 13, left the scene following the stabbing. After urgent inquiries, our officers arrested him and also recovered a weapon which we believe to have been used in the stabbing. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody for questioning by our officers.”Kingsbury headteacher Alex Thomas said: “This has been a deeply traumatic event for the whole school community. We are working closely with the authorities.”Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said her thoughts and prayers were with the two victims and their families, adding: “The police have arrested the suspect, and I would like to thank them for their rapid work in doing so. We must now give them the space to pursue their investigation.”Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson added: “I am heartbroken to hear about the stabbings at a school in Brent.”
